A Rambling Reunion Wrap-up

From Ruth Simpson Sterling

Well, how much fun was that?

My perspective is a bit blurry on this because things got pretty exciting and we were in party mode but I think we accomplished the goal: we had a blast.

Seeing Jeff Boynton walk in was a thrill--aside from the fact that he has grown excruciatingly handsome, we didn't reach him until one or two days before, and there he was. Janet Magoon is the life of the party, although Ed Medlyn gives her a run for the money on that. Janet awarded herself a well-deserved prize for coming the farthest (Colorado) and Jeff Davis graciously waived his claim, coming as he did from the west coast. Allen Leduc just used some of those extra frequent flyer miles to bop in from Minnesota with a winning smile and big hugs. Curt Pituck (from Virginia) treated just about everyone to a drink and a warm conversation. Paul Pfeifer drove 14 hours from Michigan--so nice to see him. Mary Bernier, Mary Ellen Miles, Anne Berlack: all stunning and successful. Heidi Copeland, Ms. Congeniality. Mary Hopkins, Andy Smith, Jeff Gray (surprise!) all had fun talking about Clark School in Amherst—they were all adorable little kids and they all grew to be beautiful adults. (Probably I'm not supposed to call men beautiful, but heh, who's going to stop me?) While everyone was being ushered into the room for the photo, Mark Brown came around the corner. (I only screamed slightly.) Donald Watson made an entrance a little later with Steve Talarico and Andy Smith in tow (I wonder if Donald considered the ransom possibilities there). Steve hadn't been sure he could make it and there was no name tag for him. After a while, he had introduced himself to just about everybody. The spirit of the evening was re-connecting, remembering those funny little things that were shared years ago--in some cases 40 years ago.

In all the excitement, ranging from delight to uproar, there were quiet moments too. For me, sitting and just "chilling" with Nancy Rivard, like I used to do once upon a time, was nice. I feel the same way about a moment with Linda Naber--she has the nicest vibes for a die-hard UNH hockey fan. Watching Cindy Charron, Debbie Levesque, Debbie Hall, Mikki Ledoux, Sheila Quinn and others dance was just wonderful--these babes know how to dance. And the guys weren't duds either--thanks to Tommy Desmarais for dancing with me. When did Neil Glover and Dave Munro get so handsome? And could Chris Ryan (turned Rambo) follow me around--or better yet, guard my gorgeous daughter? The guy is impressive, I'm telling you. Other guys have beefed up in the muscle area too, including Dan Faneuf. And the gals looked pretty, really, pretty, like prettier than high school, especially Maureen Ruonala. Also Linda Koenig and Valerie Covell. Sally Curtis is the picture of vitality and vim. OK, so I'm emphasizing the visuals here, but it was fun seeing how kind age has been to us. (John Rotch hasn't changed a bit.) And the years have made us interesting and interested. Each encounter I had all evening was special and memorable. If I get 10 seconds with Colleen McMurray every ten years, I'm all set. It's not possible to leave a conversation with Debbie Batt or Keith Barker without feeling good--these people have a special magic.

I had no intention of naming so many names but these images keep popping into my head--how sexy is Keith Carmen? And doesn't Steve Markham shine up nice? My conclusion is that we had a damn good-looking class. (Did we vote Janet Byrnes most beautiful?) And you couldn't ask for more fun. Laughs, laughs, laughs.

Talking with Billy Wenzel was a highlight of the evening for me--here's a hero who rescued drowning people from a half-frozen lake. It's an honor to know him, to remember him as a little boy and to admire him as an adult.

The warmth in the room was notable. Jim Stearns, John Nevin (wealth of information), Mark Suomala (now a famous NPR bird commentator), Peter Dumont, Fred Ruonala--each of these guys was ready with a hug and a big smile--Jim had pictures of his adorable kids ready to pull out of his pocket and share. Karen Bacon looks great and knows all sorts of things I wished I knew a month ago, as does Peggy Chacos. Jeff Kendall, Debbie Ruggles, Gary Manoogian (even more fit than he was in high school, if that's possible), Carol Kelly . . . . all these people were just so warm and welcoming. Speaking of warm, Ellen Threlfall and Rusty Works came early, worked hard and didn't seem to mind.

Who am I forgetting? Linda Sweeney was hard to find but great to see. Tim Maguire hates class reunions but hid it pretty well, well no he didn't, but his wife is terrific. (Speaking of spouses/dates/special someones: these people are really good sports to come, meet dozens of people and be there as favorite dancing partners. Hi Jerry.) Other good sports include Peter Goodwin and Dave Cassidy who were lassoed into coming by irresistible Ed but they seemed glad of it that night.

Nothing is more fun than a few minutes with Chris Bachelder. Her observations are priceless--one of her comments, upon realizing that Jeff Foote and Jodi Foote hadn't arrived was, "The Feet aren't here." She is a laugh a minute and a sheer delight--could Ed possibly deserve this? Well, yes, Ed is the salt of the earth, all-around good guy. He wasn't going to let things get dull for a minute, whether goading Steve Talarico, plugging raffle tickets (congrats to Debbie Hall and Dave Munro on the big haul winnings), embarrassing me . . . he never ran out of lively activities! (I never noticed that "bare-ass" seems to be the root of embarrassed. How appropriate.) Incidentally, if you ever need a humbling experience, try standing at a microphone attempting to get the attention of 60 of your classmates at a class reunion. I knew it would be a challenge! (Just kidding--everyone was really sweet--love ya all.)

Special thanks to MHS/Batt Magoon fans who joined the party even though they didn't have to because they graduated in other years: LouAnn Poor (gorgeous as always), Mike Quinn, Matt Johnson (forever fun), and John Hopkins (party machine). No party is as fun without John Hopkins' amazing energy. (Thanks for saving the last dance for me.) Also thanks to our illustrious inventor, Dan Faneuf and his amazing Plasticlips--not one name tag ever hit the floor. A big thank you to John (Batt) Magoon who gets better with age like vintage wine and is just kind and good. His choice of "In My Life" to remember classmates we have lost was over the top.

And finally, since this is a discussion of a class reunion, let's talk about real class, our class-act advisor Marney Magoon. She had no trouble capturing attention at the microphone and without her encouragement and generosity (offered to pay the Hampshire Hills deposit), this party wouldn't have happened.

Well, those are my recollections --still in a spacey afterglow state (maybe hangover is a better term because the whole event was kind of intoxicating).

Onward! Ideas are already being collected for 2008. Holding the reunion at a hotel, like the Clarion, where out of towners can stay and in-towners can either stay or not, sounds good to me. That way, we can have breakfast or lunch or an outdoor get-together the next day. I hear the hotel idea surfaced at around 1:00am when there were people reluctant to break things off. They say that's a sign of a good party. So I guess we accomplished the goal....

We're from Milford and couldn't be prouder....

All the best to everyone,

Ruth S.